Hail In Kennett

A pretty good storm moved through Kennett this evening. I checked in with Gary Figgins to see what was happening when the storm came through and he sent me the above image from his iPhone. He wrote this in an email:

Ryan,
Just got your message. I was drowning on the girls softball field when the rain turned to hail. I took this photo just now, about 30 minutes after the hail stopped. I have never seen it come down like that.

Gary

As you can see, it was adding up quickly. Keep in mind, this picture was 30 minutes AFTER the storm ended. Pretty wild...

The below image is what the radar looked like when it came through. The National Weather Service did a great job warning folks for this storm. It also put down some gusty winds in Blytheville.

This next image is the "VIL" product during the storm. We use this product to get an idea of "where" it could be hailing. Studies have proven that it is not a good idea to try to estimate hail size based on VIL alone. That's why we use special algorithms to estimate hail size with StormTRACK Doppler 8. VIL stand for Vertically Integrated Liquid. You may have seen this used on air, too.
I hope to get some pictures of the wind damage in Blytheville. I'll keep you posted. It appears the storm "collapsed" on Blytheville, which typically results in strong winds. A similar phenomenon happened to Black Oak a week or so back...

Take care,

Ryan